My father died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 48, (20 years ago) I am now 36 and concerned about my chances of developing it. He was a drinker and heavy smoker which I am guessing would not have helped his situation, I drink but have never smoked. Are my chances of developing pancreaic cancer increased because my father had it?

I really wanted to answer your question to hopefully safe you some of the anguish
I have gone through. While there is hereditary PC, 15%. Try to look at 85% of the cases are not hereditary. Also your father being a heavy smoker would definately be a factor.
I was told that although most hereditary cases are afflicted before or around age 50,
the fact that by Dad was a chain smoker, and no other family members died of pc, he could not be placed in that catagory. My Dad just like yours, heavy smoker and drinker, he died 30 yrs ago and at that time they thought the alcoholism caused the pc. Today they no the smokes make you at risk. Drinking puts you at a greater risk for pancreatitis.
And the genetic Drs told me that drinking does not increase your risk for pc however a smoker that drinkd may somehow mkae their "smoking risk" much greater. Some kind of senergistic effect.

Be proactive, which it seems you are. But in the opinion of someone who has researched this topic, a long with driving my family crazy, you dont seem to be in the line of pc. If your Dad was not a smoker then I would be concerned.

The simple fact is that yes Pancreatic Cancer is hereditary and drinking and smoking are supposed to put you at a higher risk, but I have also read that people who do none of the above and have been healthy all their lives canget PC as well. Along with all of that something as simple as an abdominal injury can spur the onset of the mutations that create PC. My husband was healthy as a horse for as far as we know and he had troubles with reflux and GERD for years, these got worse after he was involved in an accident on his job where his log truck was being pushed by a skidder operator to get his turned around. A log came against a tree behind his truck and pushed up through the load and into the cab of his truck pinning him between the seat and steering wheel. No one ever thought anything of it... until all these years later when he found out he has pancreatic cancer. The injury went un-noticed and untreated and that one event allowed those terrible cells to grow and mutate until now when he is struggling to stay alive on a daily basis.

There is a type of PC that is hereditary, but not all are. If your father had the hereditary type you, and anyone else who might be affected, can be tested for the presence of that gene. In women it usually develops as breast or ovarian cancer. If you are concerned I would suggest you inquire about being tested. However, I'm not sure if that test is covered by insurance.

My father died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 48, (20 years ago) I am now 36 and concerned about my chances of developing it. He was a drinker and heavy smoker which I am guessing would not have helped his situation, I drink but have never smoked. Are my chances of developing pancreaic cancer increased because my father had it?

My boyfriend father died with Acute Pancreatitis in his 60. Several of the kids have Pancreas problems the youngest child (boyfriend) seems to have more issues than the other he has had issues since a child.

My dad passed away from PC almost 2 years ago. He had no family history, and was the picture of health. He was 68 yrs old. His doctor told my brother and I that we had a slightly higher chance of getting PC than someone with no family history.